Kevin Duffy: Porter vs. Daniels another wild subplot to UConn season

Updated 7:46 am, Thursday, February 28, 2013

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Connecticut's DeAndre Daniels lines up a dunk as Georgetown's Otto Porter Jr. (22) watches during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Storrs, Conn., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Connecticut's DeAndre Daniels lines up a dunk as Georgetown's Otto Porter Jr. (22) watches during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Storrs, Conn., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Jessica

Georgetown's Otto Porter Jr. goes up for the game-winning basket during the second overtime of an NCAA college basketball game against Connecticut in Storrs, Conn., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Georgetown won 79-78. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Georgetown's Otto Porter Jr. goes up for the game-winning basket during the second overtime of an NCAA college basketball game against Connecticut in Storrs, Conn., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Georgetown won

STORRS -- With two and a half minutes elapsed in the second overtime between UConn and No. 7 Georgetown, it happened. Finally.

DeAndre Daniels secured his 10th rebound of the night, becoming the first Husky this season -- yes, 27 games in -- to record a double-double.

Kevin Ollie had seen a bunch of whacky statistics and wild outcomes in his rookie year. He's seen his squad outrebounded by 31 -- tying a Big East record -- and still escape Providence with a win. He's seen a junior point guard take clutch to a new level, posting Pistol Pete overtime numbers: 46 points in 30 minutes prior to Wednesday.

"I thought I'd seen it all," Ollie said. "I guess I haven't."

After that Daniels rebound, UConn would score six unanswered points, claiming a typically insurmountable 78-71 edge with 2:03 remaining. Otto Porter would account -- in some fashion -- for the final eight points of the game, his long 6-foot-8 frame gliding for a fast-break layup with just eight ticks left.

There's plenty to say about this one: The final few UConn possessions were ripe with turnovers and difficult turnarounds: Boatright dribbled to the corner for a desperate 3-pointer that scraped the backboard and, consistent with everything that happened Wednesday night, nearly dropped at the buzzer. Both teams were remarkably tough. Napier, hobbled by a right foot injury, still delivered some insane overtime shots.

It was Georgetown over UConn, not Otto Porter over DeAndre Daniels.

But seriously, how great was that back-and-forth?

Daniels, often timid in body language and inconsistent in performance, was a superstar Wednesday. Porter, so long, so skilled on the perimeter, will be a lottery pick in June. Daniels might get to the league some day, too.

This was not a mismatch. These were two of the most heralded 2011 recruits -- Daniels ranked 10th nationally by Rivals.com, Porter checked in at No. 37 -- going blow for blow. This was both guys at their best.

"I just looked at this (matchup) as, in myself, I feel like I'm good," said Daniels, who added 25 points and three blocks to his rebound total. "I'm one of the top players. That's how I feel."

While the college basketball world paraded Porter as a National Player of the Year candidate in the days following his 33-point masterpiece against Syracuse, Daniels "heard a lot of people saying I can't play with Porter and all this stuff." The stuff, actually, was Daniels on Porter at the end of the first overtime. Two string-bean 6-8 forwards banging in the post, Daniels got a piece of Porter's fall-away, a shot that could have ended this thing five minutes earlier.

And on the first possession of the second overtime, Daniels swished a 3-pointer in the corner, Porter momentarily losing track of his defensive assignment.

"He's terrific, by the way," Porter said. "He's about the same size as me. He was bottling up the paint, rebounding. I think he had 10 rebounds. He was terrific."

The first half was forgettable. The Porter-Daniels duel that ensued for the next 30 minutes certainly wasn't.

"He was everywhere," Ollie said. "He took the challenge of Otto Porter and he passed it."

During a barrage of 3s -- eight in 11 minutes, to be exact -- Porter left his right hand hanging in Daniels' face, a reminder of the sweet stroke that had given Georgetown a 47-36 advantage. And with Napier (foot) and Omar Calhoun (wrist) banged up, with the Hoyas defense hardly ever yielding an open look, it didn't appear the Huskies had the offensive firepower to rally.

They did, though, and at some point in there, Daniels backpedaled on defense holding up three fingers on both hands, celebrating his final 3-pointer. He was a cool 3-for-4 from deep. Coincidentally, so was Porter.

Porter's final longball cut it to 78-74. Then his lay-in -- the UConn defense scrambling to contain him -- iced it.

"If I didn't like what I saw, I was going to call timeout," said Georgetown coach John Thompson III.

On that last play, Daniels couldn't quite track his counterpart. And rebound No. 11 -- damn, what Ollie would have given to see that -- never occurred. Neither did block No. 4.

"(That last play) happened so fast," Daniels said. "I don't really remember it ... we didn't get back on defense."

Porter had a better recollection of the game-winner, when he "saw Mikael (Hopkins) sprinting to the rim."

"That's something that might go overlooked," Thompson III said. "Mikael Hopkins did a very good job of sealing his man so that Otto was able to get that clean path to the rim."

Yes, in fact, this wasn't just Porter vs. Daniels. Basketball is more complicated than that. Georgetown beat UConn Wednesday. But for these two lanky forwards, what a showcase it was.